Let’s just all be grateful Florida general manager isn’t in charge of assembling a team of super soldiers to protect the freedoms of the U.S.

Because the man who built the Chicago Blackhawks into Stanley Cup champions is showing he’s obviously lost his knack for putting together a winning squad with his work for the Panthers.

The Panthers were just one of a number of busy would-be challengers to the Bruins’ Cup crown in the Eastern Conference on “free-agent frenzy day” today. None made the types of moves that would make you sit back and wonder what Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli is going to do as a counter move or how the Bruins are going to handle facing a certain team.

Florida, with a decade of playoff-less springs now behind it, was maybe the most active of those teams with the signings of Ed Jovanovski, Marcel Goc, Tomas Fleischman, Scottie Upshall and Jose Theodore, and the trade for Philadelphia’s Kris Versteeg. Combined with the previously acquired Tomas Kopecky, the Panthers now truly resemble Chicago, if the Blackhawks didn’t have Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrooke. In other words, the Panthers are now the Blackhawks from the start of the decade.

At least the Panthers have reached the salary-cap floor, even if the money’s not going to a good cause or a potential playoff threat.

Closer to Boston in terms of geography and the standings, Buffalo is still in the Brad Richards sweepstakes, so that could change the look of its offseason makeover. But right now, the Sabres’ big additions of Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino — two guys the Bruins had no problem handling in the playoffs. Montreal added Erik Cole, a solid player that they overpaid a bit. The Habs have to like adding his size to a diminutive forward corps. However, we know that the Habs are really banking on a healthy Andrei Markov to lead their D and he hasn’t been able to stay in the lineup for a couple years now.

The Broad Street Bullies got softer, as Philadelphia signed Jaromir Jagr and swapped out Leino for Pittsburgh agitator Max Talbot. If the Flyers don’t land Richards, they’re at a definite talent disadvantage. Pittsburgh lost the toughness of Talbot and Michael Rupp, and I like the Pens’ addition of Steve Sullivan. We know, though, that the only thing that matters right now in the Steel City is the positive prognosis for the health of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. As far as the Pens challenging the Bruins, talk to me when those two stars are on the ice with a clean bill of health.

Lastly among active Eastern contenders are the Washington Capitals, who continue to crack me up. They know they need more toughness, so they keep Brooks Laich and then today overspend to bring back Jeff Halpern and import Joel Ward ($3 million a year). They have enough sandpaper up front now, but then on the back end the Caps sign Roman Hamrlik, who was last season playing tissue-paper pylon for the Canadiens against the Bruins in the playoffs.

Once the Brad Richards situation is cleared up, we’ll have a better idea of which teams are seriously going to challenge the Bruins. Tampa Bay has done well to keep its team together with the re-signing of Dwayne Roloson and a few others while Lightning GM Steve Yzerman tries to get Richards and Steven Stamkos’ deals done.

It’s a long summer, and there could be some big names traded that will blow the mediocre free-agent class out of the water. But as of right now, without making anything more than a minor swap of Michael Ryder for Benoit Pouliot, the Bruins are still the class of the league and the East.

I honestly don’t think it matters how much talent Florida signs, I think the problem with that team is the organization. I think it is kind of like a cancer and it makes it hard for even good players to flourish.

I actually think Buffalo overpaid but I think they improved their team. I am curious though what happens when they try to resign guys they really want to keep and have those awful contracts to contend with.

I am 100% content with the moves (or lack there of) the Bruins made yesterday. The Bruins aren’t perfect and have sometimes overpaid in a contract, but I think Chia was wise to avoid this feeding frenzy and generally makes moves that help the team.

Buffalo spent its hoarded money on a bunch of useless people and Robyn Regher.
FLA is way better than it was yesterday, so they should be able to fight for that 8th seed. Chia signed a player I dislike, basically for free compared to the lunacy we saw today.

Dont’ care about the others teams in the East…Bruins should not be scared of Flyers which traded the heart and soul of the organization: Richards and Carter…and nobody should be scared of the Buffalo Sabres – Leino and Eirhoff are not offensive power…nothing proved years after years…and Washington too many stars in the organization to win anything in playoffs…

So, if PC can resigned Kaberle and Marchand and adding Caron to the lineup…Bruins will be serious Stanley Cup contender next year…

And, on dessert Pouliot could be a real powerforward under Claude Julien…he could finally score 20 to 30 goals next year !!! I would not be surprised.

Honestly I would rather take a pass on overpaying for talent in the current market and fail in the playoffs than overpay and get stuck with a bunch of contracts that suck up cap space and keep the team from resigning key players who are becoming restricted or unrestricted free agents at the end of next season.

The beauty of this years cup winning team is that they are still young and mostly intact. There isn’t a required fire sale after the victory that happened with Chicago.

I would still very much like to see the team pick up a strong defenseman-one who can anchor the second pairing so Seids and Chara can shut other team’s top lines down.

Not a huge fan of the Pouliiot signing-but more so because I don’t care for the player than that I think the Bruins are paying too much or making a huge mistake. This signing seems to come at a pretty low risk and cap hit.

Tallon isn’t a bad evaluator but he’s bad with contract details. That was one of the reasons he’s not in Chicago. Someone should tell him that he has all summer to get to the floor. It’s not Brewster’s Millions. Cole’s last time in Canada didn’t go too well. I can’t believe the Leino contract. Is a good playoff two years ago worth over six million? I mean he’s scored forty goals in this league. I like him for sure but not at that money. Oh and he’s twenty eight already. If you look at the B’s payroll there’s some guys playing for free compared to what some of these guys got today. Not chasing some of these FA’s is a good move. Almost as good as not trading Timmy last summer.